Combined car and electric coupler



Aug; 1 1931- H. E. VAN DORN 1,819,214

COMBINED CAR AND ELECTRIC COUPLER Filed Feb. 28. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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A TTORNEY Aug. 18, 1931. H. E. VAN DORN COMBINED CAR AND ELECTRIC COUPLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb.

INVENTOR. #1 a. 4% M ATTORNEY Aug. 18,1931. H. E. VAN BORN 1 4 COMBINED CAR AND ELECTRIC COUPLER Filed Feb. 22, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

Q ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 18,1931

UNITED STATES HERBEBT.E. VAN DORN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM E VAN DORN,

PATENT oFFic OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA COMBINED CAR AND ELECTRIC COUPLER Applieationfiled February 28, 1927. Serial No. 171.697.

One of the difficult problems in connection with the electric railway trains is the automatic coupling of the various electrical train It is common to mount on the car couplers electric couplers for this purpose.

Good metallic contact must, of course, be'

made between the contact pieces or terminals of two cooperating couplers, and therefore the contacts in two such couplers mustbe yieldingly pressed together when a coupling is made, This may be accomplished by providing contacts yieldingly pressed forward so as to project beyond the transverse line of contact between two couplers,'whereby the 'contact pieces in both couplers will be pressed back when a coupling is made. It is desirable that a door or closure be provided for each electric coupler so that, when the coupler ,is not in use, the contacts will be housed in, and thereby guard against the entrance of rain. snow or dirt into the electric coupler and against exposed live contacts or terminals that might injure workmen or others touching them. 7 The door or closure for a coupler should be automatic in its opening made during coupling and uncoupling move and closing movements, opening automatically upon the coupling together of two cars, and again closing when the cars are unv.coupled. So far as I know, no one has heretofore been able to provide the simple type of electric coupler, having contact pieces normally prO ectmg forward beyond the transverse line of contact,.with an automat c door;

. recourse being had to more complicated con-' structions in which the contact pieces are mounted on a carrier, which moves into and out of the housing or casing of the coupler.

The object of the present invention is to .provide an electric coupler of the so-called. stationary contact type with a door or closure 1 and means for automatically operatingthe same upon the coupling and uncoupling of the cars.

In carrying out my invention, I mount an electric coupler directly on a car coupler in such a manner as to be immovable thereon; The yieldingly held, so-called stationary contacts, are caused normally to project beyond .the front end of the coupler, whereby they will be pushed back during a coupling operation. The" electric coupler is provided with a. door mounted to swing from a position in front of the coupler to an idle position below the coupler. The door is preferably provided with a spring tending normally to close the same.

placing on this element any loador burden except during the coupling operation, namely at a time when the energy stored up in a moving car or cars is availablefor operating the door, or doors.

iherefore, considered n one of its aspects,

my inventioi may be said to have for its obgect to provide a simpleand novel mechanism for operating the door or closure of an electric coupler from an element of afcar coupler that has movement relatively to the coupler ments of the car coupler.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention islch ara cterized "will' hereine after be pointed outwith particularity in the claims; but, for a full'understandingof my invention and .of its objects and advair detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure l is a ,sideelev'ationof acar coupler of .welli known type haying mounted thereon an electric.couplerprovided with adoor or closure operated in accordance with the'present invention, the door being shown 'op'en';

Fig. 2 is a View similarjt o Fig. 1,'sliowingonly the electric coupler, the doonbeing closed; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the structure shownin Fig; 1, a portionof the car coupler" being broken away, the parts be ng in the positions corresponding to those in Fig. 1 and which they'assuine just before the'comple:

There is also provided a suitable door-openingmechanism adapted to be cm ated by means on an approaching car to open tages, reference maybe had to the following tion of a coupling operation; Fig. 41's a view similar to 3, showing the partsin the posi tions whichthey occupy whilethe coupler is separated from a cooperating coupler, with the door closed; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, all of the part-s except the door and the operating means therefor being shown in section; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the opposite side of the electric coupler from that appearing in Fig. 2 and the body of the coupler being shown in dotted lines; and Fig. 7 is a detail showing a modified connection between the rock shaft and its operating bracket.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, 1 represents the head of a so-called tight-lock coupler of well known construction, such as disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,475,609 granted on. November 27, 1923, having a forwardly projecting hook or nose 2 atv one. side, and a. locking element or yoke 3 within the chamber of the head behind the open front at the other side. As is.v well known, when two of these couplers come together, the. nose or hook on one presses back the. locking dog or yoke in the other; and, when the hooks have been tightly interlocked, the locking elements or yoke automatically swing into their normally locking positions to prevent disengagement of the hooks from each other.

' Underneath the car coupler head is fixed an electric coupler head 41.. In the arrangement shown, the two heads. are rigidly fastened together by means of bolts 5 and G. The details of' the electric. coupler are. of no importance, except that there should be contact pieces 7 projecting forwardly beyond. the same and beyond the. plane of the forward face. 8 of the car coupler. These contact. pieces will, of. course, be spring-held in any usual or suitable way, so that. they may be pressed back through engagement with, cooperating contact pieces. when two couplers are brought together.

There is a door or closure 9 of a. size and shape to, fit snugly against the front end of the electric coupler in front. of. the contact pieces. The door is provided with rearwardly extending wings 10 at. its ends, that is at the sides of the electric coupler, the rear ends of these wings being pivotally connected to the casing of the electric coupler as indicated at 11, thereby permitting the door or closure to swing between an open position in which it lies underneath the electric coupler and a position in which the door fits. snugly against the front end of the electric. coupler,

5 preferably against a rubber or other sealing gasket, such as indicated at 12, extending around the front, end of the electric coupler.

Mo mted on the electric coupler, above the rear end, a transverse rock shaft 13. On each end of the rock shaft is an arm 14 pro.- jecting downward beside the electric coupler.

etweeneach of the arms 14 and the corresponding wing of the doorv is a connecting rod. 15. Between an upwardly projecting arm 16 on the rock shaft and 2. lug 17 on top of the electric coupler, toward the front end, is arranged a compression spring 18 tending constantly to turn the rock shaft in a direction to close the door. The rock shaft has a second upwardly projecting arm 20 to which is connected one end of a link 21 that extends rearwardly' to and is fastened to a horizontally swinging bracket 22. The locking dog or yoke 3 of the car coupler may be operated through a vertical shaft. 23, having a radial arm 24 connected to a part associated with the locking dog or yoke by a link 25. On the upper end of the shaft 23 is a handle 26. The yoke swings on a vertical pin 50 and has a tail piece 51 projecting beyond the pin. A spring 52 arranged between a tail on the yoke and a stationary part of the coupler head, tends constantly to hold the yoke in the position shown in Fig. 4:- Normally, therefore, the. yoke extends transversely across the coupler head so that when another coupler head approaches in the act of coupling, the.v

nose thereof strikes the yoke and pushes it back against the resistance. of spring 51 to the point indicated in Fig. 3. Thereupon the. yoke slips off the end of the nose of the opposing coupler and swings back to theposition indicated in Fig- 4, completing the coupling. In order to uncouple, the yoke must. be swung back to the position illustratedin Fig. 3, thus leaving the nose of the cooperating coupler free to bev withdrawn. In this type of coupler, the link 25 is not connected directly with the yoke but to a part. 53 that swings about the pin 50 and plays betweenspaced lugs. 54 and 55. on the yoke. Consequently, when the handle 26 is turned in the proper direction while the yoke is. in the locking position of Fig. 4,. the. part 53 will travel until it strikes the lug 55, whereupon the yoke will begin to swing until it reaches the release position of Fig. 3. When the yoke is brought to the position shown in Fig. 3 by the operating handle, the part 53 will, of course, still be in engagement with the lug 5a. Fig- 3, however, illustrates not only the release position of the. yoke, but. also the posi tion thereof just before a coupling is com pleted; the shaft. 23 having been turned by means of the lug 54 acting on the part 53 and,

through the latter and the link 25, on the arm 2%. On the operating shaft 23 is an arm or projection 27 whose free end is curved, as indicated at 28,. about the axis of the operating shaft as a center. The bracket 22 has a lug 29. which, when the bracket is in the posh tion thatit occupies when the door of the electric coupler is closed, and the dog or yoke 3: 1s.v In its normal idle position, lies directly in front of the arm or projection 27. When the operating handle is. turned to swing the dog or yoke. back, or when the hook on an opposing car coupler presses. the dog or voke back, the projection on arm 27 is swung forward. pushing the projection 29 on the. bracket 22 ahead of" it; thereby turning the rock shaft in a direction to swing open the door. The parts are so shaped, proportioned and positioned that before the locking dog or yoke has completed its rearward swinging move ment, the driving contact between the arm 27 and the projection or lug 29 will be interrupted and this lug or projection will ride on the curved face 28; thus permitting the locking dog or yoke and the operating mechanism therefor to continue their movements for a considerable distance after the door for the electric coupler has been opened, the opening of the door being completely effected before the lug or projection begins to ride on the arm 27. Figure 4: shows the relation of the parts 22 to 29 while the door is closed, whereas Figure 3 shows them in the positions that they occupy after the door has been fully opened and the locking dog or yoke-fully retracted, in the act of automatic coupling. It will be seen from Figure 3 that the arm 27 serves as a stop or abutment against which the lug or projection 29 bears to prevent the spring 18 from operating the rock shaft in a direction to close the door. WVhen the operating handle 26 is turned in the direction to unlock the car couplers, the arm 27 pushes the lever 22 forward from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 3, and serves to lock the door open until the nose of the opposing coupler has been withdrawn.

It will thus be seen that I have produced a simple and novel door operating means for an electric coupler, that will permit the use of the simplest type of coupler, namely that havin g the so-called stationary contacts; the door opening and closing automatically with the coupling and uncoupling of cars, being adapted to be operated manually at will through the actuating handle for the locking dog or yoke of the car coupler and requiring no application of outside energy during the closing movements.

It will be seen that the link or connecting rod 21 between the bracket 22 and the rock shaft must wobble during the operating of the mechanism. This maybe provided for by making the pivot pins smaller than the openings through which they pass, or by using a link or rod such as indicated at 21A in Figure 7 and connecting the same by a ball joint 30 to the bracket and by a similar ball joint 31 to the rocker arm 20. The lug 32 on the bracket in the construction shown in Figure 7, corresponding to the lug 29 in the other figures, is shown as taking a somewhat di iferent form although having the same functions.

While in some aspects of my invention it is not important what is the element that initiates the automatic opening of the door when two cars are coupled, it will be seen that the actuating means shown in the drawings makes it unnecessary to employ any device projecting from the car or the electric coupler for engagement with a part on an approaching car. In other words, the. actuating means for the door are all in the rear, the forward part of the car coupler containing only the usual coupler features and the forward element of the electric coupler being the door.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire tobe limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements. which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a car coupler and an electric coiurler fixed to the same, a door mounted for movements between a closing position in front of and an idle position 'behie the electric coupler, and means actuated V by a part of the car coupler set-in motion during the process of coupling to open said door.

2. In combination, a car coupler having a lock and an operating member therefor, an electric coupler fixed to the car coupler, a door mounted to swing between a position in front of the electric coupler and an idle position, and means controlled by said operating member and arranged between the same and the door to actuate the latter.

3. In combination, a car coupler having a locking dog adapted to be drivenfrom a locking position to a release position by an element on an opposed car coupler during the act of coupling, an electric coupler fixed to the car coupler, a door for the electric coupler movable between closing and idle positions, and means arranged between said locking dog and said door to cause the door to open as the dog moves toward its release position.

4. In combination, a car coupler having a locking dog adapted to be driven from a locking position to a release position by an element on an opposed car coupler during the act of coupling, an electric coupler fixed to the car coupler, a door for the electric coupler movable between closing and idle positions, and means arranged between said locking dog and said door to cause the door to open as the dog moves toward its release position and while it is still a considerable distance away from such release position.

5. In combination, a car coupler having a locking dog adapted to be driven from a locking position to a release position by an element on an opposed car coupler during the act of coupling, an electric coupler fixed to the car coupler, a door for the electric coupler movable between closing and idle positions, an arm connected to said dog to be swung thereby as the dog moves from one of its positions to the other, and door operating means including an element having a lug projecting into the path of said arm, the parts being so constructed that said arm engages the lug and drives said element to open the door during the first part of the movement of the dog toward its release position and thereafter serves as an abutment engaged by the lug and holding the door open during the remainder of the travel of the dog to the re- 6" lease position. I

6. In combination, a car coupler having a locking dog and an operating device for said dog, an electric coupler mounted on the car coupler, a door for said electric coupler,

and door operating means connected to and between the door and said device.

7. In combination, a car coupler having a locking dog and means including a manually-actuated handle for operating said dog,

5? an electric coupler mounted on the car cor.-

pler and having a door, and op-erating means for said door associated with said handle.

8:. In combination, a car coupler having movable locking dog adapted to be TlIlIt-(Xl gg b-y a part on an opposed coupler in the act of coupling, an electric coupler mounted on the car coupler and having a door, and means actuated by the shifting dog to open said door.

3e: 9 In combination, an automatic car cou ple-r having a part entirely in rear of the front face of thecoupler that is shifted in the'act of coupling, an electric coupler having a door, and means associated with said part to cause ES -the said door to open upon the shifting of said part.

10. In combination, an automatic car coupler, an electric coupler mounted on the car coupler and having a door, and operating means for the door lying entirely in rear of the front face of the car coupler and including an element adapted to be engaged by a portion of an, opposed car coupler and moved thereby in the act of coupling.

455 '11. In combination, an automatic car coup ler, an electric couplermounted thereon and having adoor, and door-operating means operatively associated with a car coupler element for actuation thereby.

50 12. In combination, a car coupler having an element that is shifted in the acts of coupling and uncoupling, an electric coupler mounted on the car coupler and having a door, a sprlng tending constantly to close the door, and

means associated with said element to open the door against the resistance of the spring. 13. In combination, a car coupler having an element that is shifted in the acts" of coupling and uncoupling, an electric coupler mounted i on the car coupler and having a door, a spring tending constantly to close the door, dooropening means including a member lying in the path of said element, said member and i said element being so shaped that during the first' part of the movement of said elementin the direction to open the door it drives said member ahead of it and during a considerable remaining portion of such movement acts simply as a lock to hold said member against backward movement.

14. In combination, coupling apparatus including a casing having contacts normally projecting beyond the front of the same in position to engage with similar contacts on a cooperating coupling apparatus, a door arranged in front of and having Wings extending rearwardly past the sides of the casing, pivotal connections between the rear ends of the wings and the casing, and means associated with the coupling apparatus and set in motion by a companion coupling apparatus to cause the door to be swungdown into an idle position upon the approach of a cooperating coupling apparatus and while the couplin apparatuses are still a considerable distance apart.

In testimony whereof, I sign this speciiication.

HERBERT E. VAN DORN. 

